Four our engagement pictures, we were fortunate to have Paris as our backdrop. Our experience was one that I would never forget. Our photo shoot took place on my 2nd day of arriving in Paris from an express train from London. It was a very stressful and complicated event that required quite an extensive planning - but having these pictures make it all worth it.
First off, we did not travel to Paris just to take pictures (lol!). I grew up wanting to go to Paris all my life. I was quite a romantic nerd when I was a teen - let's blame Chanel and Amelie for that. I remembered watching Amelie and wishing I could live in France. Then come Marie Antoinette, Les Choristes, La Vie en Rose, and Woody Allen's Midnight In Paris - I knew I had to come to Paris. I was fascinated and mesmerized by the glamour and romanticism of this city. The macaroons, the peonies, the Eiffel Tower - all seem so beautiful and surreal. I could not believe a city like that exists.
Because our wedding was only 4 months away from our planned trip, I figured - why not have our engagement photos in the most romantic city in the world? From all the wedding blogs that I visited, this seemed to be a pretty normal thing, and to my surprise there are so many English-speaking photographers who live in France.
I have to admit, the photo shoot was major stressful. Finding an English-speaking photographer was the easiest part. Because I suck at applying make up, I had to also look for an English-speaking make up artist in Paris. I was lucky to find one who is willing to travel to my hotel location at 6 am in the morning to apply make up for me. Secondly, because I knew this is a once in a lifetime opportunity, I was greedy and wanted some pictures of me in my wedding dress in Paris as well. So, imagined my mom and I trying to squeeze a tulle ballroom gown into a carry on size for me to take in Paris. (packing it along with my check-in large luggage was not an option for the fear of losing my wedding dress in the airport). Oh, let's not forget props! I wanted to have balloons in our photos, so I even bought balloons to pack with me. However, finding a place that has helium to blow up the balloons in Paris was harder than I thought. And on top of that, I also need to find flowers for the photo shoot! I needed to get all of that done on the first day of Paris. Luckily for me, flowers shop are everywhere in Paris. I was able to get a bouquet full of fresh peonies at Fleur de Caumartin, 84 Rue de Provence. I held on to the stunning blooms of peonies in one hand, strolling the streets of Paris with my then-fiance on the other hand on my first day in France. We even got some heavenly Laduree macaroons on Champs Elysees and had dinner on the side walk - a first day that I would always remember.
For our photo shoot, I also hired a driver and rented a car to drive us between the locations. We went to multiple locations - Pont Alexandre III, Seine River, Place du Trocadero, Jardin du Palais Royal, Montmartre. Luckily for us our photographer was fluent both in French and English - so navigating around was not a problem.
I remembered there was a moment that I was in the back seat in the car with my driver in the front - the windows were rolled half down, and he was sipping on black coffee and eating a croissant. I was waiting for my husband and our photographer, who were out to do some minor errands. Inside the car with my big white tulle dress, gazing out the windows - the weather could not be more gorgeous, and Paris looked so beautiful. I watched people passed along the streets, admiring their impeccable taste in winter coats and flawless natural make up, then I saw my husband, in his wedding suit, walking towards the car with our helium-filled pink balloon on his hands. I thought to myself, am I dreaming? Paris is even more beautiful and more romantic than in all my dreams.
Paris will always have a special place in my heart.
We will always have Paris.
